Historiography

The main historical sources for her life are the works of Procopius. However the historian has offered three
contradictory portrayals of the Empress. The Wars of Justinian,
largely completed in 545, paints a picture of a courageous and
influential empress. Sometime after their publication, he wrote the
Secret History.
The Secret History reveals an author who had become deeply
disillusioned with the emperor Justinian and his wife, as well as
Belisarius, his former commander and patron, and Antonina,
Belisarius' wife. The anecdotes claim to expose the secret springs
of their public actions, as well as the private lives of the
Emperor, his wife, and their entourage. Justinian is depicted as
cruel, venal, prodigal and incompetent; as for Theodora, the reader
is treated to a detailed and titillating portrayal of vulgarity and
insatiable lust, combined with shrewish and calculating
mean-spiritedness; yet much of the work covers the same time period
as The Wars of Justinian. This work was not published at
the time. The Buildings of
Justinian, written about the same time as the Secret
History, is a panegyric which paints
Justinian and Theodora as a pious couple and presents particularly
flattering portrayals of them. Besides her piety, her beauty is
excessively praised. Although Theodora was dead when this work was
published, Justinian was very much alive, and probably commissioned
the work.

Early years

Origin

Theodora,
of Greek Cypriot descent, was born
according to some historians on the island of Crete in Greece, but others
list her birthplace as Syria.Nicephorus Callistus
Xanthopoulos names Theodora a native of Cyprus.Patria, attributed to George
Codinus, claims Theodora came from Paphlagonia. The Patria claims she was later
employed in Constantinople, spinningwool.
Michael the Syrian, the Chronicle of 1234 and Bar-Hebraeus place her origin in the city of
Daman, near Kallinikos, Syria. They
contradict Procopius by making Theodora the daughter of a bear
trainer, trained in the pious practices of Miaphysitism since birth. She was introduced to
Justinian during one of his visits to the eastern provinces and
later married. These are Miaphysite sources and record her
depiction among members of their creed. The Miaphysites have tended
to regard Theodora as one of their own and the tradition may have
been invented as a way to improve her reputation. These accounts
are usually ignored in favor of Procopius.

"She was the kind of comedienne who
delights the audience by letting herself be cuffed and slapped on
the cheeks, and makes them guffaw by raising her skirts to reveal
to the spectators those feminine secrets here and there which
custom veils from the eyes of the opposite sex. With pretended
laziness she mocked her lovers, and coquettishly adopting ever new
ways of embracing, was able to keep in a constant turmoil the
hearts of the sophisticated. And she did not wait to be asked by
anyone she met, but on the contrary, with inviting jests and a
comic flaunting of her skirts herself tempted all men who passed
by, especially those who were adolescent. On the field of pleasure
she was never defeated. Often she would go picnicking with ten
young men or more, in the flower of their strength and virility,
and dallied with them all, the whole night through. When they
wearied of the sport, she would approach their servants, perhaps
thirty in number, and fight a duel with each of these; and even
thus found no allayment of her craving. Once, visiting the house of
an illustrious gentleman, they say she mounted the projecting
corner of her dining couch, pulled up the front of her dress,
without a blush, and thus carelessly showed her wantonness. And
though she flung wide three gates to the ambassadors of Cupid, she lamented that nature had not similarly
unlocked the straits of her bosom, that she might there have
contrived a further welcome to his emissaries." While Evans
considers tales of entertaining notables at banquets and accepting multitudes of lovers to be
mostly factual, the image of Theodora's "voracious" appetite for
sexual intercourse may have more
to do with rumors and lewd jokes than the
actual extent of her activities.

"Frequently, she conceived but as she
employed every artifice immediately, a
miscarriage was straightway effected.
Often, even in the theater, in the sight of all the people, she
removed her costume and stood nude in their midst, except for a
girdle about the groin: not that she was
abashed at revealing that, too, to the audience, but because there
was a law against appearing altogether naked on the stage, without
at least this much of a fig-leaf. Covered thus with a ribbon, she
would sink down to the stage floor and recline on her back. Slaves
to whom the duty was entrusted would then scatter grains of
barley from above into the calyx of this passion flower, whence geese, trained for the purpose, would next pick the
grains one by one with their bills and eat. When she rose, it was
not with a blush, but she seemed rather to glory in the
performance. For she was not only impudent herself, but endeavored
to make everybody else as audacious. Often when she was alone with
other actors she would undress in their midst and arch her back
provocatively, advertising like a peacock
both to those who had experience of her and to those who had not
yet had that privilege her trained suppleness." Evans points that
the performance of Theodora with the geese could be a portrayal of
Leda and the Swan, a tale from
Greek mythology. The geese here
playing the role of Zeus in the original
tale.

"So perverse was her wantonness that she should have hid not only
the customary part of her person, as other women do, but her face
as well. Thus those who were intimate with her were straightway
recognized from that very fact to be perverts, and any more respectable man who
chanced upon her in the Forum
avoided her and withdrew in haste, lest the hem of his mantle,
touching such a creature, might be thought to share in her
pollution. For to those who saw her, especially at dawn, she was a
bird of ill omen. And toward her fellow actresses she was as savage
as a scorpion: for she was very malicious."

In "Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium, AD 527-1204"
(1999) by Lynda Garland it is noted that John of Ephesus reports
Theodora coming from a brothel. Unlike
Procopius, John happened to be a favourite
of the Empress and his historical portrayal of his patron is mostly
positive. Garland points that while it confirms Procopius' account
of Theodora as a prostitute, there seems to be little reason to
believe she worked out of a brothel "managed by a pimp". Employment as an actress at the time would
include both "indecent exhibitions on stage" and providing sexual
services off stage. In what Garland calls the "sleazy entertainment
business in the capital", Theodora would earn her living by a
combination of her theatrical and sexual skills. Garland considers
it important that John was familiar with Theodora's background. He
was not a resident of Constantinople and his autobiographical
accounts do not include even visiting the capital until Theodora
was well into her career as an Empress. This would imply that
Theodora's background as an actress and courtesan was general
knowledge at the time of Justinian's reign.

Travels

"Later,
she followed Hecebolus, a Tyrian who had been
made governor of Pentapolis, serving him
in the basest of ways; but finally she quarreled with him and was
sent summarily away. Consequently, she found herself
destitute of the means of life, which she proceeded to earn by
prostitution, as she had done before this adventure. She came thus to
Alexandria, and then traversing all the East, worked her way
to Constantinople; in every city plying a trade (which it is safer,
I fancy, in the sight of God not to name too
clearly) as if the Devil were determined there
be no land on earth that should not know the sins of
Theodora." Evans points that her motivation in following
Hecebolus could be in seeking a way to escape her profession. A law
established in 409 under the reign of Theodosius II, "barred local authorities from
transferring actors from their cities". In effect also limiting the
ability of actors to travel to other cities. Theodora "might have
encountered legal obstacles to her desertion of the stage" and
relied on the protection of Hecebolus to manage overcoming them.
She is said by later sources to have met the Patriarch Timothy III in
Alexandria, who was Monophysite, and it
was at that time that she converted to Monophysite Christianity.

Procopius later narrates Theodora finding an ally during the period
of her travels. "There was a certain dancer named Macedonia,
who belonged to the Blue party in Antioch, who came to
possess much influence. For she used to write letters to
Justinian while Justin was still Emperor, and so made away with
whatever notable men in the East she had a grudge against, and had
their property confiscated. This Macedonia, they say, greeted Theodora at
the time of her arrival from Egypt and Libya; and when
she saw her badly worried and cast down at the ill treatment she
had received from Hecebolus and at the loss of her money during
this adventure, she tried to encourage Theodora by reminding her of
the laws of chance, by which she was likely again to be the leader
of a chorus of coins. Then, they say, Theodora used to
relate how on that very night a dream came to her, bidding her take
no thought of money, for when she should come to Constantinople,
she should share the couch of the King of the Devils, and that she
should contrive to become his wedded wife and thereafter be the
mistress of all the money in the world. And that this is what
happened is the opinion of most people." Procopius previously
portrays Justinian as a demon in human form.
"Indeed, w was this man likely to be anything but an evil spirit,
who never knew honest satiety of drink or food or sleep, but only
tasting at random from the meals that were set before him, roamed
the palace at unseemly hours of the night, and was possessed by the
quenchless lust of a demon?"

Evans notes that Justinian had succeeded Vitalian as magister militum in praesenti and that
Macedonia seems to have served as one of his informants. The modern historian dismisses tales
of dreams and demons. He notes that Macedonia serves as the first
known link between Theodora and Justinian. There are theories that
the informant was the one who introduced the later imperial couple
to each other. However, Procopius is silent on the subject and the
connections remains a conjecture.

Mistress and wife of Justinian

"Thus was this woman born and bred, and her name was a byword
beyond that of other common wretches on the tongues of all men. But
when she came back to Constantinople, Justinian fell violently in
love with her. At first, he kept her only as a mistress, though he raised her to patrician rank. Through him Theodora was
immediately able to acquire an unholy power and exceedingly great
riches. She seemed to him the sweetest thing in the world, and,
like all lovers, he desired to please his charmer with every
possible favor and requite her with all his wealth. The
extravagance added fuel to the flames of passion. With her now to
help spend his money he plunderhe people more than ever, not only
in the capital, but throughout the Roman Empire. As both of them
had for a long time been of the Blue Party, they gave this faction
almost complete control of the affairs of state. It was long
afterward that the worst of this evil wand yet deniedas
checked.

"Now as long as the former Empress was alive, Justinile to find a
way to make Theodora his wedded wife. In this one matter she
opposed him as in nothing else: for the lady abhorred vice, being a
rustic and of barbarian descent, as I have
shown. She was never able to do any real good, because of her
continued ignorance of the affairs of state. She dropped her
original name, for fear people would think it ridiculous, and
adopted the name of Euphemia when
she came to the palace. But finally her death removed this obstacle
to Justinian's desire. Justin, doting and
utterly senile, was now the laughing stock of his subjects; he was
disregarded by everyone because of his inability to oversee state
affairs. But for Justinian, they all served with considerable awe.
His everything was in his hand, and his passion for turmoil created
universal consternation."

"It was then that he undertook to complete his marriage with
Theodora. But as it was impossible for a man of senatorial rank to
make a courtesan his wife, this being forbidden by ancient law, he
made the Emperor nullify this ordinance by creating a new one,
permitting him to wed Theodora, and consequently making it possible
for anyone else to marry a courtesan. Immediately after this he
seized the power of the Emperor, veiling his usurpation with a
transparent pretext: for he was proclaimed colleague of his uncle
as Emperor of the Romans by the questionable legality of an
election inspired by terror. So Justinian and Theodora ascended the
imperial throne three days before Easter, a time, indeed, when even
making visits or greeting one's friends is forbidden. And not many
days later Justin died of an illness, after a reign of nine years.
Justinian was now sole monarch, together, of course, with
Theodora." Evans notes that the new law can be found in Corpus Juris Civilis.

In fact it is included in Book 5, title 4, chapter 23. "Deeming it
the proper subject of imperial benevolence to investigate and at
all times foster the advantages of our subjects, we think that the
errors also of women, through which, on account of the frailty of
their sex, they may choose a mode of life unworthy of their honor,
should be corrected by proper restraint, so that they may not be
deprived of the hope of a better condition, but may look forward to
that and thus more easily avoid an inconsiderate and dishonorable
alliance. For we believe that we can thus imitate, as much as it
possible for us to do, the benevolence and great clemency of God to
the human race, who contescends always to pardon the daily sins of
men, to receive our rependance and to lend us back to a better
condition: if we fail to do this in the case of those subjected to
our sway, we shall be unworthy of forgiveness."

"Thus since it would be unjust that slaves should be able to
receive their freedom by imperial indulgence and be restored to
their natural rights so as to live, upon bestowal of imperial
beneficence of that kind, as if they had never been slaves and had
always been free born, but that women, who have been on the stage,
but who have changed their mind and have abandoned a dishonorable
profession, should have no hope of imperial beneficence which might
lead them back to the condition in which they might have lived if
they had not sinned, we grant them by this beneficent imperial
sanction the right that, if they abandon their dishonorable
conduct, and embrace a better and honorable mode of life, they may
supplicate our majesty, and they will unhesitatingly be granted asn
imperial rescript permitting to enter into a legal marriage."

"Persons who marry them need not fear that such alliance will
be invalid under the provisions of our former laws, but may be
confident that such matrimony shall be as valid as if their wives
had not previously lived any dishonorable life, whether the
husbands possess a title or are otherwise forbidden to marry women
that have been on the stage, provided that such alliance must be
proven by marriage documents, and not otherwise."

"Such women shall be entirely cleansed of all stain as if they
had been returned to their natal condition. No dishonor shall
adhere to them, and we want no difference to exist between them and
those who have not sinned in a similar matter".

The same law also includes regulations making children produced by
said marriages legitimate, gives the former actresses rights to
inherit estates and transfer property to others prior to their
marriage and allows women who hold titles to marry beneath their
station. The daughters of actresses also had legal limitations. The
future daughters of former actresses benefiting from this law had
no such limitations. Already living daughters of former actresses
could petition the emperor to remove such legal restrictions from
them. The law extended the right to petition also to daughters of
active actresses. The law also retroactively acknowledged already
existing marital alliances between partners of unequal status,
legitimizing their status. Justin makes a point however that the
marital alliances permitted by the law should not be "nefarious" or
"incestuous"

"Thus it was that Theodora, though born and brought up as I have
related, rose to royal dignity over all obstacles. For no thought
of shame came to Justinian in marrying her, though he might have
taken his pick of the noblest born, most highly educated, most
modest, carefully nurtured, virtuous and beautiful virgins of all
the ladies in the whole Roman Empire: a maiden, as they say, with
upstanding breasts. Instead, he preferred to make his own what had
been common to all men, alike, careless of all her revealed
history, took in wedlock a woman who was not only guilty of every
other contamination but boasted of her many abortions." ...
"However, not a single member of even the Senate, seeing this disgrace befalling the
State, dared to complain or forbid the event; but all of them bowed
down before her as if she were a goddess.
Nor was there a priest who showed any resentment, but all hastened
to greet her as Highness. And the populace who had seen her before
on the stage, directly raised its hands to proclaim itself her
slave in fact and in name. Nor did any soldier grumble at being
ordered to risk the perils of war for the benefit of Theodora, nor
was there any man on earth who ventured to oppose her. Confronted
with this disgrace, they all yielded, I suppose, to necessity, for
it was as if Fate were giving proof of its
power to control mortal affairs as malignantly as it pleases,
showing that its decrees need not always be according to reason or
human propriety. Thus does Destiny sometimes raise mortals suddenly
to lofty heights in defiance of reason, in challenge to all out
cries of injustice; but admits no obstacle, urging on his favorites
to the appointed goal without let or hindrance. But as this is the
will of God, so let it befall and be written."

Description

"Now Theodora was fair of face and of a very graceful, though
small, person; her complexion was moderately colorful, if somewhat
pale; and her eyes were dazzling and vivacious. All eternity would
not be long enough to allow one to tell her escapades while she was
on the stage, but the few details I have mentioned above should be
sufficient to demonstrate the woman's character to future
generations."

Ascent to the Byzantine throne

Justinian was crowned augustus (emperor) and Theodora augusta on 4 April
527, giving them control of the Byzantine Empire. A contemporary
official, Joannes Laurentius
Lydus, remarked that she was "superior in intelligence to any
man". Justinian clearly recognized this as well, allowing her to
share his throne and take active part in decision making. As
Justinian writes, he consulted Theodora when he promulgated a
constitution that included reforms meant to end corruption by
public officials.

The imperial status of Theodora also proved profitable for her
relatives. Her sister Comito became the wife of a
rising young officer, Sittas, though he was to die young while
campaigning in Armenia. Her niece Sophia married the nephew of
Justinian, Justin II, who succeeded his
uncle in 565.

Partnership in power

According to Procopius: "What she and her husband did together must
now be briefly described: for neither did anything without the
consent of the other. For some time it was generally supposed they
were totally different in mind and action; but later it was
revealed that their apparent disagreement had been arranged so that
their subjects might not unanimously revolt against them, but
instead be divided in opinion."

"Thus they split the Christians into two parties, each pretending
to take the part of one side, thus confusing both, as I shall soon
show; and then they ruined both political factions. Theodora
feigned to support the Blues with all her power, encouraging them
to take the offensive against the opposing party and perform the
most outrageous deeds of violence; while Justinian, affecting to be
vexed and secretly jealous of her, also pretended he could not
openly oppose her orders. And thus they gave the impression often
that they were acting in opposition. Then he would rule that the
Blues must be punished for their crimes, and she would angrily
complain that against her will she was defeated by her husband.
However, the Blue partisans, as I have said, seemed cautious, for
they did not violate their neighbors as much as they might have
done."

"And in legal disputes each of the two would pretend to favor one
of the litigants, and compel the man with the worse case to win:
and so they robbed both disputants of most of the property at
issue. In the same way, the Emperor, taking many persons into his
intimacy, gave them offices by power of which they could defraud
the State to the limits of their ambition. And as soon as they had
collected enough plunder, they would fall out of favor with
Theodora, and straightway be ruined. At first he would affect great
sympathy in their behalf, but soon he would somehow lose his
confidence in them, and an air of doubt would darken his zeal in
their behalf. Then Theodora would use them shamefully, while he,
unconscious as it were of what was being done to them, confiscated
their properties and boldly enjoyed their wealth. By such
well-planned hypocrisies they confused the public and, pretending
to be at variance with each other, were able to establish a firm
and mutual tyranny."

Courtly life

Events of the reign

John Malalas lists the building
projects of Justinian during the first year of his reign (527-528).
He then lists the projects of the "most devout" Theodora for the
same period. The first mentioned by name was a church dedicated to
Michael the Archangel and built in Antioch. Next mentioned is
the Basilica of Anatolius, also located in Antioch. He places
special attention to the columns of the Basilica being send there
from Constantinople. He also mentions Theodora sending a cross
decorated with pearls to Jerusalem.

According to John Malalas, Eulalios, a Comes
domesticorum with financial difficulties, died and left the
care of his three daughters to Justinian in 528. Malalas notes that
he did not leave an estate sufficient for their care, nor
sufficient amounts for the dowries and properties intended in his
will. Justinian assigned Makedonios as curator of their inheritance. He was charged with
repaying any debts left to the orphan girls. The three were placed
in the custody of Theodora and "looked after in the imperial
apartments". By imperial decision the dowries and properties
originally intended for them would be provided by funds of the
imperial couple. Garland considers it a case of Theodora taking
interest in women's issues.

In 529,
Malalas records a visit of Theodora to Pythion (Yalova), in
particular its hot springs. She
was accompanied by patricians, cubicularii chamberlains, the Comes sacrarum
largitionum (Master of the 'Sacred Largess', who operated the
imperial finances) and an overall retinue of no less than four
thousand people. He lists her generous donations to churches she
visited in her short journey. Theophanes the Confessor gives a
listing of the high-ranking courtiers accompanying her. He makes a
dating mistake, placing the visit in 532. Garland considers the
imperial splendor of an otherwise uneventful trip to a spa an indication of Theodora having adapted to heading
"an intricate and formal court".

Theodora proved herself a worthy and able leader during the
Nika riots. There were two rival political factions in the Empire, the
Blues and the Greens, which started a riot stemming from many
grievances in January 532, during a chariot race in the hippodrome.
The rioters set many public buildings on fire and proclaimed a new
emperor. Theodora proved herself ruthless, as it was her will that
Pompeius and Hypatius, the nephews of
Anastasius I, be put to death
when the mob had chosen Hypatius to replace Justinian. Unable to
control the mob, Justinian and his officials prepared to flee. At a
meeting of the government council, Theodora spoke out against
leaving the palace and underlined the significance of someone who
died as a ruler instead of living as nothing. Her determined speech
convinced them all. As a result, Justinian ordered his loyal troops
led by two reliable officers, Belisarius
and Mundus, to attack the
demonstrators in the hippodrome. His generals attacked the
hippodrome, killing over 30,000 rebels. Historians agree that it
was Theodora's courage and decisiveness that saved Justinian's
reign.

Following the Nika revolt, Justinian and Theodora reformed
Constantinople and made it the most splendid city the world had
seen for centuries, building or rebuilding aqueducts, bridges and
more than twenty five churches. The greatest of these is Hagia Sophia, considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and one of the
architectural wonders of the world.

The "Buildings of Justinian" by Procopius mentions Theodora
involved in several other projects. He starts by mentioning a hospice located between Hagia Sophia and Hagia
Irene. "Between these two churches there was a
certain hospice, devoted to those who were at once destitute and
suffering from serious illness, those who were, namely, suffering
in loss of both property and health. This was erected in early
times by a certain pious man, Samson by name. And neither did this
remain untouched by the rioters [in the Nika riots], but it caught
fire together with the churches on either side of it and was
destroyed. The Emperor Justinian rebuilt it, making it a nobler
building in the beauty of its structure, and much larger in the
number of its rooms. He has also endowed it with a generous annual
income of money, to the end that through all time the ills of more
sufferers may be cured. But by no means feeling either a surfeit or
any sort of weariness in shewing honour to God, he
established two other hospices opposite to this one in the
buildings called respectively the House of Isidorus and the House
of Arcadius, the Empress Theodora labouring with him in this most
holy undertaking." He also mentions Theodora involved in
the building of a xenodocheion. When
mentioning the building projects of Justinian in Bithynia, Procopius mentions Theodora involved in
the road which had fallen into disrepair. "There is a certain road
in Bithynia leading from there into the Phrygian territory, on which it frequently happened
that countless men and beasts too perished in the winter season.
The soil of this region is exceedingly deep; and not only after
unusual deluges of rain or the final melting of very heavy snows,
but even after occasional showers it turns into a deep and
impassable marsh, making the roads quagmires, with the result that
travellers on that road were frequently drowned. But he
himself and the Empress Theodora, by their wise generosity, removed
this danger for wayfarers. They laid a covering of very
large stones over this highway for a distance of one half a day's
journey for an unencumbered traveller and so brought it about that
travellers on that road could get through on the hard pavement."
She also took interest in projects located in North Africa. "First, then, he cared for Carthage, which now, very properly, is called Justinianê,
rebuilding the whole circuit-wall, which had fallen down, and
digging around it a moat which it had not had before. ... He
built stoas on either side of what is called the Maritime Forum,
and a public bath, a fine sight, which they have named
Theodorianae, after the Empress." ... "In the surrounding region,
which is called Proconsularis, there
was an unwalled city, Vaga by name, which could be captured not
only by a planned attack of the barbarians, but even if they merely
chanced to be passing that way. This place the Emperor Justinian
surrounded with very strong defences and made it worthy to be
called a city, and capable of affording safe protection to its
inhabitants. And they, having received this favour, now call the
city Theodorias in honour of the Empress."

Theodora also created her own centers of power. The eunuch Narses, who in old age developed into a brilliant
general, was her protege, and so was the praetorian prefect
Peter Barsymes. John the Cappadocian, Justinian's chief
tax collector, was identified as her enemy, because of his
independent influence.

Legislation

Theodora participated in Justinian's legal and spiritual reforms,
and her involvement in the increase of the rights of women was
substantial. Garland points several laws of Justinian who seem
surprisingly favorable to women. Until 528, laws about rape only concerned women above
the rank of barmaids, effectively making
the rape of lower-class women and slaves legal.
In 528, a law on sexual offenses
changed the status considerably. Rapists and kidnappers of women, both free-women and female
slaves, were given the capital
punishment. The law also included sections against the unlawful
seduction of women. A 534 law made it
illegal to force any woman on the theatrical stage without their
consent, regardless if said woman was free or a slave. In 535, laws
against procurers address
the specific problem of those who force underage girls into
prostitution. The law mentions the practice of procurers first
luring young girls at the age of ten or younger away from their
parents with promises of food and clothing and secondly forcing
said girls "into a life of unchastity". This was rendered illegal
by this law and promises or agreements between the girls and their
pimps were clarified as illegal as well. The same year, another law
dictates that marriages are created by "mutual affection", not
agreements on the dowry. The repudiation of
women who married without dowry was therefore rendered illegal. A
537 law allowed actresses to renounce their occupation at will.
Attempts to force them to continue the employment by invoking oaths
or previous agreements were rendered illegal and punishable by
fines. Garland notes that Theodora, having first-hand experience
with the hardships faced by the women of the lower classes, was
likely to be the motivating force behind laws attempting to improve
their living conditions. However, Justinian seems to have continued
reforms in that direction even following her death. For example, a
559 law put an end to the practice of women being imprisoned on
charges of debt. They were to remain free and attempt to repay
their debts. The same law changed the status of women held
prisoners for more serious offenses. They were to be placed in
monasteries in the care of nuns or placed under guard of other "reliable" women.
The law specifies that the law was an attempt to prevent the rape
and ill-treatment of female prisoners. Theodora had laws passed
that closed brothels. She also expanded the rights of women in
divorce and property ownership, instituted the death penalty for
rape, forbade exposure of unwanted infants, gave mothers some
guardianship rights over their children, and forbade the killing of
a wife who committed adultery.

Evagrius Scholasticus
considers the severity of treatment for men accused of rape to have
been excessive and adds it to his mostly negative portrayal of
Justinian. By his account: "Justinian was insatiable in the
acquisition of wealth, and so excessively covetous of the property
of others, that he sold for money the whole body of his subjects to
those who were entrusted with offices or who were collectors of
tributes, and to whatever persons were disposed to entrap others by
groundless charges. He stripped of their entire property
innumerable wealthy persons, under colour of the emptiest pretexts.
If even a prostitute, marking out an individual as a victim, raised
a charge of criminal intercourse [rape] against him, all law was at
once rendered vain, and by making Justinian her associate in
dishonest gain, she transferred to herself the whole wealth of the
accused person." The Secret History contains the information that
sexual offenses were handled by the magistrate who held the office
of "Quaesitor", a new office created as part of Justinian's
administrative reforms. "Just as if the offices which had long been
established did not suffice him for this purpose, he invented two
additional magistracies to have charge of the State, although
before that time the Prefect of the City was wont to deal with all
the complaints. But to the end that the sycophants [public informers] might be ever more
numerous and that he might maltreat much more expeditiously the
persons of citizens who had done no wrong, he decided to institute
these new offices. And to one of the two he gave jurisdiction over
thieves, as he pretended, giving it the name of "Praetor of the
Plebs"; and to the other office he assigned the province of
punishing those who were habitually practising sodomy and those who had such intercourse with women
as was prohibited by law, and any who did not worship the Deity in
the orthodox way, giving the name of "Quaesitor" to this
magistrate. Now the Praetor, if he found among the peculations any
of great worth, would deliver these monies to the Emperor, saying
that the owners of it were nowhere to be found. Thus the Emperor
was always able to get a share of the most valuable plunder. And
the one who was called Quaesitor, when he got under his power those
who had fallen foul of him, would deliver to the Emperor whatever
he wished to give up, while he himself would become rich
nonetheless, in defiance of all law, on the property of other men.
For the subordinates of these officials would neither bring forward
accusers nor submit witnesses of what had been done, but throughout
this whole period the unfortunates who fell in their way continued,
without having been accused or convicted, and with the greatest
secrecy, to be murdered as well as robbed of their money."

According to John Malalas, Theodora
took personal action against pimps and brothel-keepers who held
poor girls under contract as early as 528. She would pay up to five
solidi for each girl to free them
from any obligation to their former employers. The price was set to
the amount the brothel-keepers claimed they had paid to acquire the
girls. The girls were to be provided with a solidus and a set of
clothes for each of them. They were then supposedly dismissed to
their own devices. Garland notes that under Justinian and Theodora
brothels were outlawed. As of 535, brothel-keepers would no longer
be able to receive any money for losing control of their girls.
Laws of the year dictated that they would be punished by corporal punishment and exile. Justinian and Theodora eventually created a
convent on the Asian side of the Dardanelles called the Metanoia (Repentance), where
the ex-prostitutes could support themselves.The main account on the
subject is given in the "Buildings of Justinian" by
Procopius. "There was a throng of women in Byzantium who had
carried on in brothels a business of lechery, not of their own free
will, but under force of lust. For it was maintained by
brothel-keepers, and inmates of such houses were obliged at any and
all times to practise lewdness, and pairing off at a moment's
notice with strange men as they chanced to come along, they
submitted to their embraces. For there had been a numerous body of
procurers in the city from ancient times, conducting their traffic
in licentiousness in brothels and selling others' youth in the
public market-place and forcing virtuous persons into slavery. But
the Emperor Justinian and the Empress Theodora, who always shared a
common piety in all that they did, devised the following plan. They
cleansed the state of the pollution of the brothels, banishing the
very name of brothel-keepers, and they set free from a
licentiousness fit only for slaves the women who were struggling
with extreme poverty, providing them with independent maintenance,
and setting virtue free. This they accomplished as follows.
Near that
shore of the strait which is on the right as one sails toward the
Sea called Euxine, they made
what had formerly been a palace into an imposing convent designed
to serve as a refuge for women who repented of their past lives, so
that there through the occupation which their minds would have with
the worship of God and with religion they might be able to cleanse
away the sins of their lives in the brothel. Therefore they
call this domicile of such women "Repentance," in keeping with its
purpose. And these Sovereigns have endowed this convent with an
ample income of money, and have added many buildings most
remarkable for their beauty and costliness, to serve as a
consolation for the women, so that they should never be compelled
to depart from the practice of virtue in any manner whatsoever. So
much, then, for this." Procopius also gives a less flowery
description of the convent in his Secret History. According to it
the prostitutes were sent there against their consent. He ignores
Justinian and places blame for creation of the convent exclusively
on Theodora. "But Theodora also concerned herself to devise
punishments for sins against the body. Harlots, for instance, to
the number of more than five hundred who plied their trade in the
midst of the market-place at the rate of three obols — just enough to live on — she gathered
together, and sending them over to the opposite mainland she
confined them in the Convent of Repentance, as it is called, trying
there to compel them to adopt a new manner of life. And some of
them threw themselves down from a height at night and thus escaped
the unwelcome transformation."

John of Nikiû would later compare
Theodora to some of the greatest reformers in Roman history for her
campaign against prostitution. "There was a man named Romulus who had founded the great city of
Rome; and likewise another who came after him named
Numa, who adorned the city of Rome
with institutions and laws, and subsequently established three
orders in the empire. And so also subsequently did the great
Caesar and Augustus also after him. And it was through these
that the virtues of the Romans were shown forth, and these
institutions are maintained among them until this day, And
subsequently came the empress Theodora, the consort of the emperor
Justinian, who put an end to the prostitution of women, and gave
orders for their expulsion from every place."

Involvement in affairs of Praejecta

Theodora participated in matters of dynastic policy as evidenced by
her involvement in the marriages of Praejecta. Praejecta was a
niece to Justinian by blood and Theodora by marriage. She was a
daughter of Vigilantia and Dulcidio (or Dulcissimus), respectively
the sister and brother-in-law of Justinian. She was also a sister
of later emperor Justin II. She was
initially married to Areobindus. According to the "History of the
Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of
Justinian" (1923) by John Bagnell Bury,
Solomon, Praetorian prefect of Africa
was killed in the Battle of
Cillium (544) against the joined forces of various tribes of
the Moors. His nephew Sergius, previously
Dux of Tripolitania,
was appointed as his replacement and left to continue the conflict
with the Moors. Bury regards Sergius to have been "incompetent,
arrogant, and debauched". He quarreled with his own officers while
"the Imperial rule in Africa was again in grave danger". Justinian
send reinforcements under Areobindus. "Instead of superseding him,
he despatched a second incompetent commander, the patrician
Areobindus, who had married his own niece Praejecta. He made
Areobindus co-ordinate with Sergius, but he was to command the army
of Byzacena, Sergius that of Numidia. The two generals did not agree, and
misfortune ensued. The Byzacene forces, relying on the support
of Sergius, who left them in the lurch, were severely defeated at
Thacia, between Sicca Veneria (El Kef) and
Carthage (end of A.D. 545). After this disaster
Sergius was relieved of his post and Areobindus replaced him. He
was a man of little merit, and in a few months he was removed by a
conspiracy. Guntarith, the duke of Numidia, aspired to play the
part of Stotzas, and having come to an understanding with some of
the Moorish chiefs, he suddenly seized the palace at Carthage, and
Areobindus was assassinated (March AD 546). Praejecta fell into the
hands of Guntarith, who formed the plan of marrying her. But
Guntarith's supremacy lasted little over a month. A portion of the
army remained loyal and found a leader in an Armenian officer,
Artabanes, who brought about the
murder of the rebel at a banquet (May). Justinian appointed
Artabanes Master of Soldiers of
Africa, and Praejecta offered her hand to her deliverer. But
Artabanes was already married and Theodora refused to permit a
divorce. He followed Praejecta to Constantinople, and the Emperor
tried to console him by creating him Master of Soldiers in
praesenti and Count of the Federates." Praejecta was instead
arranged to marry Ioannes (John), son of Pompeius and Anastasia.
Pompeius was a son of Flavius Secundinus, Roman Consul in 511 and Caesaria. His
mother was a sister of a previous emperor, Anastasius I (reigned 491-518).
Pompeius and his brother Hypatius were
executed in 532 for their role in the Nika riots.

Bury gave a more detailed description of the affair in his "A
History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D.
-800 A.D.)" (1889). "Artabanes, the commander of Africa, had
overthrown the usurper Gontharis and delivered from his hands the
Emperor's niece Praejecta, whose husband Areobindus had been put to
death by the tyrant. From gratitude, not from love, Praejecta
consented to become the wife of Artabanes, who aspired to an
alliance with the imperial house;and the count of Africa hastened
to surrender the newly conferred dignity and obtain his recall from
Justinian, that he might return to Constantinople, whither
Praejecta had preceded him, and celebrate the marriage. He was
received with open arms in the capital; he became magister militum
in praesenti and captain of the foederati;
his tall and dignified stature, his concise speech, and his
generosity won the admiration of all. But an unexpected obstacle to
the proposed marriage occurred in the person of a previous wife,
whom he had put away many years before. As long as Artabanes was an
obscure individual the lady was contented to leave him in peace and
give no sign of her existence; but when he suddenly rose to fame,
she determined to assert her conjugal rights,and, as a wronged
woman, she implored the aid of Theodora. The Empress "whose nature
it was to undertake the cause of injured women," compelled the
unwilling master of soldiers to take his wife once more to his
bosom, and Praejecta became the bride of John, the son of Pompeius
and grandson [actually grandnephew] of the Emperor Anastasius.
Shortly after this the Empress died, and Artabanes immediately put
away for the second time his unwelcome wife, but Praejecta was lost
to him, and he nourished a grudge against the Emperor". Bury
considers this grudge to have caused Artabanes to join a conspiracy
aiming to assassinate Justinian. However, this plot failed when the
conspirators attempted to recruit family members of Justinian who
proved loyal to their kinsman.

Religious policy

Theodora worked against her husband's support of Chalcedonian Christianity in the ongoing
struggle for the predominance of each faction. In spite of Justinian
being Orthodox Christian,
Theodora founded a Monophysite monastery in Sykae and provided
shelter in the palace for Monophysite leaders who faced opposition
from the majority Orthodox Christians, like Severus and Anthimus.
Anthimus, had been appointed Patriarch of
Constantinople under her influence, and after the
excommunication order he was hidden in Theodora's quarters for
twelve years, until her death. When the Chalcedonian Patriarch Ephraim provoked a
violent revolt in Antioch, eight Monophysite bishops were invited
to Constantinople and Theodora welcomed them and housed them in the
Hormisdas Palace adjoining the Great
Palace, which had been Justinian and Theodora's own
dwelling before they became emperor and empress.

John of Nikiû notes her
connection to Timothy III. "Justinian
commanded the Orientals to inscribe the names of the (bishops of
the) Council of Chalcedon on
the diptychs of the church, although they
had sent the patriarch Severus
into exile—a custom which had hitherto not existed and which is not
mentioned in the Apostolic
Canons nor in the Councils of the Fathers
who came later: none of the Councils should be mentioned in public
worship. Now it was this emperor Justinian alone who established
this custom throughout every province of his empire, and had the
names of the (bishops of the) Council of Chalcedon inscribed. And
Anthimus,
patriarch of Constantinople, and Acacius who had been
patriarch in the days of the emperor Zeno, and Peter, patriarch of Alexandria,
were excommunicated. And he caused
their names to be removed from the diptychs, and abolished the
Henoticon of the emperor Zeno: he
proscribed the name of the patriarch Abba Severus throughout all
the province of Antioch and the adjoining districts, enjoining that
it should not be mentioned in the diptychs of the church, but
cursed; and he caused the inhabitants of Alexandria to thirst after
the waters of the doctrine of Dioscoras, who was succeeded
by the patriarch Timothy. Now the emperor Justinian had
given the patriarchal chair to the Chalcedonians, but as the
empress Theodora, his wife, besought him on behalf of Timothy,
patriarch of Alexandria, he permitted him on her account.Now she called him 'spiritual father'. And in the
days of this father, the emperor Justinian sent numerous forces to
Alexandria, and these encompassed the city and wished to shed much
blood. But Timothy the patriarch sent many anchorites and ascetics
to the emperor to intercede on behalf of the church, and avert a
massacre in the city and the shedding of innocent blood, and to get
permission (for its people) to abide by the faith of its fathers.
And when the emperor heard these petitions, he granted them
on the intercession of the empress Theodora, who was near (?) to
him, and he sent orders to the army to return to the
province of Africa. And the patriarch Timothy continued to reside
in his palace, true to the orthodox faith. And again subsequently
the emperor sent to Alexandria a chief eunuch, named Calotychius.
In that year the Roman empire had reached its 1287th year. [The
year given in the Ab urbe condita
system. 534 in the Anno Domini system.]
And the city continued tranquil for a short period. And the
illustrious father Timothy died full of honour."

In Egypt, when Timothy III died,
Theodora enlisted the help of Dioscoros the Augustal Prefect and
Aristomachos the duke of Egypt, to facilitate the enthronement of a
disciple of Severus, Theodosius, thereby
outmaneuvering her husband who had been plotting for a Catholic successor as patriarch. But
Pope Theodosius I of Alexandria, even with the help of imperial
troops, could not hold his ground in Alexandria against the
Julianists and when he was exiled by Justinian along with 300
Monophysites to the fortress of Delcus in
Thrace, Theodora rescued him and brought him
to the Hormisdas Palace where he lived under her protection, and
after her death in 548, under Justinian's.

Garland notes that Theodora seems to have to held respect for
members of the Chalcedonian faction as well.She mentions as
evidence the life of Sabbas the
Sanctified, written by Cyril of
Scythopolis. According to this biographical account, the
elderly monk visited the court at Constantinople in 531. The
imperial couple received him with prostration before him, "a gesture of veneration
for desert ascetic saints". Theodora reportedly took the
opportunity to ask him to remember her in his prayers, specifically
asking God to allow her to conceive a child. However, her
monophysitic leanings were already familiar to him. He refused her
request and proclaimed than "no issue will come from her womb".
Abbas reportedly explained that a child of Theodora would probably
adopt the doctrines of Severus and cause more trouble to the church
than Anastasius I had. Keeping in mind Anastasius was the last
monophysite emperor, this would mean that in Sabbas' eyes Theodora
was an enemy and Justinian not fervent enough in his support of the
Chalcedonians. The text notes the great grief of Theodora at such a
harsh rejection of her request.

Conclusively, Theodora's policy on theological matters was
separatist. One could argue, as the Chalcedonians did, that
Theodora fostered heresy and thus undermined
the unity of Christendom. But it would
be equally fair to say that Theodora's policy delayed the
alienation of the eastern church, and might have postponed it
indefinitely but for external events she could not control or
foresee.

Another incident, which shows how far Theodora could go to thwart
her husband on religious matters, is the case of Nobatae, south of Egypt, whose inhabitants were
converted to Monophysite Christianity about 540. Justinian had been
determined that they be converted to the Chalcedonian faith and
Theodora equally determined that they should be Monophysites.
Justinian made arrangements for Chalcedonian missionaries from
Thebaid to go with presents to Silko, the
king of the Nobatae. But on hearing this, Theodora prepared her own
missionaries and wrote to the duke of Thebaid that he should delay
her husband's embassy so that the Monophysite missionaries should
arrive first; otherwise he would pay for it with his life. The duke
was canny enough to thwart the easygoing Justinian instead of the
unforgiving Theodora. He saw to it that the Chalcedonian
missionaries were delayed. When they eventually reached Silko, they
were sent away, for the Nobatae had already adopted the Monophysite
creed of Theodosius.

Death

Theodora died of an unspecified cancer on 28 June 548 before the
age of 50, 17 years before Justinian. Her body was buried
in the Church of the Holy Apostles, in Constantinople. Though it has been
argued that the sole source for her illness, Victor of Tonnena, may
not use the word "cancer" in its modern medical sense, yet cancer
seems to be best guess. (There is no documentation to suggest that
she died of breast cancer, as some scholars have suggested.)
Justinian wept bitterly at her funeral.

Garland points that Theodora was also depicted with Justinian in a
work of art described in detail by Procopius. The specific
reference is to the ceiling mosaic of the
Chalke gate.
"On either side is war and battle, and many cities are being
captured, some in Italy, some in Libya; and the Emperor Justinian
is winning victories through his General Belisarius, and the
General is returning to the Emperor, with his whole army intact,
and he gives him spoils, both kings and kingdoms and all things
that are most prized among men. In the centre stand the Emperor and
the Empress Theodora, both seeming to rejoice and to celebrate
victories over both the King of the Vandals
and the King of the Goths, who approach
them as prisoners of war to be led into bondage. Around them stands
the Roman Senate, all in
festal

Known family members

John Malalas records that Comito, her
older sister, married General Sittas in 528. Sittas may thus be the
father of Sophia, Theodora's niece.
Whether Anastasia, her younger sister, ever
married is unknown.Theophanes
the Confessor names Georgius (George) and Ioannes (John) as
relatives of Theodora.

Procopius mentions a marital alliance between Theodora and General
Belisarius, specifically of Anastasius,
her grandson, and Joannina, his only daughter. He and other sources
(Bar-Hebraeus, Michael the Syrian) also mention
"Athanasius, son of the Empress Theodora's daughter." The daughter
of Theodora is almost never named in sources despite the mentions
of at least three of her sons. The daughter was probably
illegitimate and the identity of her father remains uncertain.
Justinian apparently treated the daughter and the daughter's son
Athanasius as fully legitimate, although sources disagree whether
Justinian was the girl's father. Garland simply points that our
sources mention Theodora's daughter and Theodora's grandsons. No
source speaks of Justinian's daughter or Justinian's
grandsons.

On the subject of Theodora's grandsons, Garland notes that they
were "prominent members of the court and the establishment." John
held the rank of consul. Athanasius was a monk and a leading figure
among the Monophysites. He seems to
have administrated considerable wealth. As stated already,
Anastasius married Belisarius' daughter.

Procopius also mentions John, an illegitimate son of Theodora. He
claims she had John exiled or killed to hide his existence from
Justinian. Theodora had openly recognized an illegitimate daughter
and at least three grandsons, so modern historians question why
would the existence of an illegitimate son would be considered a
greater scandal, sufficient to be kept secret and the son to be
"done away with". James Allan and Stewart Evans suggest that John
was merely an impostor attempting to enter the ranks of the
imperial family.

Lasting Influence

Her influence on Justinian was so strong that after her death, he
worked to bring harmony between the Monophysites and the Orthodox
Christians in the Empire, and he kept his promise to protect her
little community of Monophysite refugees in the Hormisdas
Palace.Theodora provided much political support for the ministry of
Jacob Baradaeus, and apparently
personal friendship as well. Diehl attributes the modern existence
of Jacobite Christianity equally to
Baradaeus and to Theodora.

Theodora is considered a great female figure of the Byzantine
Empire, and a pioneer of feminism, because
of the laws she passed, increasing the rights of women. As a result
of Theodora's efforts, the status of women in the Byzantine Empire
was elevated far above that of women in the Middle East and the rest of Europe.

City naming

It was normal that ancient cities took other names to honor an
emperor or empress. Olbia in Cyrenaica renamed itself Theodorias after
Theodora. The city, now called Qasr Libya, is known for its splendid sixth-century
mosaics.

References

From Rome to Byzantium: The Fifth Century A.D., Michael Grant,
Published by Routledge, p.132. Does the Future Hold for Mankind, R.
A. Bowland, Xlibris Corporation, p.77. A Complete History of
the Lives, Acts, and Martyrdoms of the Holy Apostles,
William Cave,
Published 1810 Solomon Wiatt, p.131. The Genuine Epistles of the
Apostolic Fathers, Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Hermas, William
Wake, William Adams, William Cave, 1834 Parsons and Hills, p. 214.
Europe: A History, Norman Davies, 1996 Oxford University Press,
p.242. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire 2 Volume Set.,
J. R. Martindale, 1992 Cambridge University Press, p.1240. A
dictionary of Christian biography, literature, sects and doctrines;
being a continuation of 'The dictionary of the Bible', Henry Wace,
William Smith, 1882 J. Murray, Stanford University, p.539

Further reading

Diehl, Charles. "Theodora, Empress of Byzantium" ((c) 1972 by
Frederick Ungar Publishing, Inc., transl. by S.R. Rosenbaum from
the original French "Theodora, Imperatice de Byzance"). Popular
account based on the author's extensive scholarly research.